Renal Cancer: Handorf Flashcards
1
Q
How common are the common primary neoplasms in adults?
A
- Clear cell carcinoma (70%)
- Papillary carcinoma (10%)
- Chromophobe carcinoma (5%)
- Oncocytoma (5%)
- Other (urothelial, squamous, 10% -> primarily of the collecting system)
2
Q
What are the benign renal neoplasms?
A
- Some papillary neoplasms (small, 25% of autopsies) can be called adenomas because they are probably not going to grow into papillary carcinomas
-
Oncocytoma: a benign renal epithelial neoplasm made of large cells w/mitochondria-rich eosinophilic cytoplasm
1. No specific genetic signature
2. Grossly mahogany brown with central stellate scar on cross-section (30%) -> radiology
3. May be multiple; RARELY exhibit aggressive behavior
4. Can get quite large and never metastasize or exhibit malignant behavior
3
Q
How are renal neoplasms removed?
A
- Partial nephrectomy now in stead of nephrectomy (for benign and malignant neoplasms)
- Why might a urologist want to do a nephrectomy rather than a partial removal? Matter of time and money (for older generation of urologists)
4
Q
What is this?
A
- Adenoma
- Couple hundred microns across; not big lesions
5
Q
What do you see?
A
- Round, mahogany brown, central stellate scar in the one on the right
- Do not look invasive or necrotic
- Can be multiple and bilateral
6
Q
What is this?
A
- Round, mahogany brown, central stellate scar in the one on the right
- Do not look invasive or necrotic
- Can be multiple and bilateral
7
Q
What do you see?
A
- Oncocytoma: clustered intercalated tubular cells
- Nuclei (regular) seem large compared to the RBC’s (7-10 microns), nucleoli
- Fairly vascular tumors
- No mitotic figures
- Diagnostic key is the cytoplasm -> loaded with organelles because very pink cytoplasm (protein-making factory)
8
Q
What is this?
A
- Oncocytoma
- Diagnostic key is the cytoplasm -> loaded with organelles
- Electron micrograph: protein-making factory
9
Q
What are the patterns of spread in renal carcinoma?
A
- Direct
- HEMATOGENOUS: known for this kind of spread -> can also invade vena cava after renal vein
1. Lung, bone metastases
2. Most pts w/these metastases die of hemorrhage - Contiguous venous spread
- Lymphatic
- Urine
10
Q
What cells comprise renal cell carcinomas? What do they look like? What are some common complications?
A
- Tubular epithelium cells
- A lot of carcinomas may also look encapsulated (don’t appear to invade) -> may fool you
- Necrosis and hemorrhage are common because known for being very neo-vascular (center will be necrotic because the vessels come in from the outside) -> veno-invasive/occlusive adds to hemorrhagic effects (even metastases very likely to be hemorrhagic)
11
Q
What are the risk factors, signs, and symptoms for renal carcinoma?
A
- Risk factors: age, smoking, being a man
-
Signs and symptoms:
1. Microscopic hematuria: not gross
2. Complain of dull flank pain (can get lost in the noise of pain complaints -> can present pretty late in its course, so it may be pretty large)
3. Classic triad: flank pain, microscopic hematuria, abdominal mass -> we find these much more than we used to due to excessive CT scans (not because we can palpate them)
12
Q
What is clear cell carcinoma?
A
- Malignant neoplasm of cells w/clear or eosinophilic cytoplasm in a delicate vascular network
- Usually solitary, polar, and yellow often with cysts, necrosis, and hemorrhage
- Vast majority express abnormality on chromosome 3p (whether sporadic or von Hippel Lindau).
- Clinical stage is most important prognostic feature, and after that nuclear grade (Fuhrman)
- Excess VEGF due to HIF not being degraded
- Clear cell neoplasm ALWAYS malignant
- Can’t rely on nuclear features to call it a cancer -> encapsulated or not is not a good measure of whether or not it’s a cancer in these cases
13
Q
What is this?
A
- Malignant neoplasm -> clear cell carcinoma
1. Why? Because this is the most common type - Dark brown, lumpy, fat, encapsulated
- Renal cell carcinomas tend to be upper or lower pole, not in the middle
14
Q
What is this?
A
Renal vein with a tumor in it
15
Q
What do you see here?
A
- Just another example of a renal cell carcinoma: note that you can’t use encapsulation and local invasion as a decision point for whether these are malignant or not